Best Value Hotel Rewards Programs in 2024

Finding the best hotel rewards program for you can be a daunting task. From point-earning promotions to elite status upgrades and thousands of other factors, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Yet, for most travelers, it all boils down to two simple variables:

1. How many points you earn with a hotel loyalty program for every dollar spent.

2. How much these points are worth.

That is, if you earn one point per dollar spent at a hotel, and each point is worth one cent, you’re earning one cent per dollar (1%) in rewards. Boiling it down to this single number lets us directly compare hotel rewards programs to one another and determine which ones offer the best — and worst — value.

Don’t fret if this is starting to feel like a stress-dream math problem. Our team at NerdWallet crunched the numbers to identify which hotel loyalty programs actually offer the best bang for your travel buck.

We collected and compared hundreds of real-world room rates to determine the value of each hotel brand's rewards points, then calculated the rewards rate (that is to say, the rate of rewards you earn per dollar spent) for each program. This rate can help you determine the best hotel rewards program for you. Our calculations also gave us a new way to think about which hotel provides the best loyalty program in 2024.

Using data to determine these rankings means that we never know how they are going to shake out until the final spreadsheet is tabulated. That means the final results are as much a surprise to us as they are to anyone.

What’s going on here? Basically, we’re saying that if you spend $100 at a Wyndham hotel, you will earn roughly $12 back in rewards points. That’s pretty good, assuming you actually use the points. On the other end, if you spend $100 at a Hilton hotel, we estimate that you will get about $5 worth of rewards in return.

Of course, there are other important factors to consider when choosing a hotel and its rewards program, such as elite status perks and the quality of the hotels. But our rewards rate gives a simple snapshot of which hotel brands are actually offering good value on their core rewards product: points.

Why did Wyndham Rewards do so well this year? A few reasons. Wyndham Rewards members are guaranteed to earn at least 1,000 points on every qualified stay — and potentially far more for more expensive stays. That’s because when you stay, you’ll get either 10 points per dollar spent or 1,000 points, whichever is more, on a qualified stay.

But 10 points aren’t just worth $10. Because NerdWallet values Wyndham points at even more than a cent — 1.2 cents each, to be exact — you get a fair bit of value back for your stay compared to other hotel programs.

Yet the whole point of this analysis isn't which hotel program offers the highest value currency, but which offers the best combination of high-value currency and generous awarding of that currency.

And Wyndham rooms aren’t super expensive on points, either. Free nights start at 7,500 points. That means after just 8 nights at a Wyndham (and potentially even fewer, if you’re booking expensive rooms), you’d be able to book your next night for free on points.

» Learn more: The NerdWallet guide to Radisson Rewards and Radisson Rewards Americas

The rankings above apply to earning and using points in the traditional way — on hotel spending. But what if you’re considering a points promotion or a credit card offer that involves a lump sum of points? For example, choosing between a promotion that earns 100,000 Hyatt points or 100,000 Marriott points.

Our regularly updated point and mile valuations show how the raw value of these currencies vary.

The values of hotel points differ significantly, which means you should pay close attention to the real value of any promotion by multiplying the above cent-per-point values by however many you’re expecting to earn.

This is just like any currency; $150,000 is very different from £150,000. And earning Hyatt points is far more valuable than earning the same number of Marriott points.

This can all be a lot to keep track of, especially if you’re new to the points and miles hobby, but these rewards values aren’t the only thing to consider when choosing a hotel loyalty program, though they are a good start. The numbers show that programs like Wyndham and Hyatt are willing to put their money — or at least their points — where their mouths are.